AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 3/16/18

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $2.867; Month Ago: $2.873; Year Ago: $1.834. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $3.078; Month Ago: $3.088; Year Ago: $2.515.

Crude gains have been buoyed by a dispute in Libya over oil-marketing rights that is hindering the North African nation’s export capacity. In Libya, the supply of up to 780,000 barrels of crude a day is at risk, according to analysts at Commerzbank. Separately, the energy market has been reacting to threats from the Trump administration this week, who indicated that the White House would look to sanction countries that don’t reduce their imports of Iranian crude to “zero” by Nov. 4. Iran currently exports around 2.4 million barrels a day of crude. Click Read More below for additional information.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index fell 1.1% in July after rising 0.5% in June. In July, the index equaled 116.2 (2015=100) versus 117.5 in June. “Tonnage declined sequentially in July for only the second time during the last twelve months. Despite the dip from June, tonnage remains at elevated levels and increased significantly from a year earlier,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “While tonnage is much stronger than a year ago, the monthly gains have moderated as the year has gone on. The combination of softer consumption of goods, home construction falling and slower manufacturing activity are the main reasons.” June’s increase was revised down from our July 19 press release. Compared with July 2021, the SA index increased 5.1%, which was the eleventh straight year-over-year gain. In June, the index was up 5.6% from a year earlier. Year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2021, tonnage was up 3.4%.